Castle - A Murder On Repeat - By Anouk
by Anouk1991
Summary: Beckett is reminded of a murder that took place years ago.
1. Chapter 1

**A Murder On Repeat – Part One **  
5.30am. Kate lays in bed with her eyes wide open. She looks at the ceiling. There's a little black spot right above her. Castle lays a sleep right next to her. He's breathing quiet heavily. Must be an upcoming cold. The winter has been tough over the past couple of week. And more and more people from the precinct were home with the flu. But that's not what is keeping her awake at this hour. The murder from last night is...

She and Castle had just finished diner and were ready to snuggle up on the couch and watch Forbidden Planet, which Castle had just purchased in the renewed version, when Ryan had called her. There had been a murder uptown. Castle and she both went up to the bedroom for a quick change and had left the apartment within six minutes. A personal record!

From afar she could already see her people working the crime scene. Esposito and Ryan had both come up to them for a short briefing. The deceased was a woman in her late forties, it look liked she had had a date and just fell asleep, right there, on the street, in the snow. Lanie suspected some kind of a poison, but they needed to wait for the autopsy to be finished, to be sure. There were no witnesses and barely any other physical evidence. The id Ryan held in his hand, had been in the right pocket of her coat. Her gloves were bagged by Esposito.

She walked up to the body, Castle following her closely. When she was close to the body, she froze. With big eyes, she looked at the body. She couldn't move, in disbelieve of what she was staring at. This was just not possible! Castle looked at her. "Beckett? What's wrong?" Her name echoed in her head. But she couldn't respond. "Kate?"


	2. Chapter 2

**A Murder On Repeat – Part Two**  
She took a deep breath and tried to set the feeling apart. There should be a logical explanation for everything. This was just a mistake, the woman just looked like her! Some kind of a doppelganger.. But she couldn't take her eyes of the woman.

Kate had been a rookie, she had just joined the force after she had graduate at the top of her class. It was not like she had not seen a dead person before. But this person stayed with her, still, after all this time. How could it not stayed with her.

The death of her mother had changed her drastically. She had changed from a girl into a woman in just a couple of minutes. Those police officers at the door, bringing the devastating news. Her dad collapsing against the wall. She had never seen her dad cry before. She had kneeled down next to her dad and stroked his arm. They had never been the cuddling kind of family, she felt the urge in that moment and did it anyway. His arms wrapped so tight around her, she could barely breath... After that everything went quick. Time flew by, and half of the memories had faded away. The family taking care of them, putting on her black dress for the funeral, everything was just a daze. The only thing that she remembered were the words from the officers. Even though they were far less important as the appearance. If two officers come to your door, early in the morning, words are not needed. You know, just feel, that something must be terribly wrong.

She looked at the trashcans, the way the woman was laying there. It all looked so familiar, yet something strange was going on. She couldn't put her finger on it yet, the possibilities were just to impossible to even imaging. But still, this woman did not just drop dead, all by herself. This was fault play. Her mouth had become dry and she felt a headache coming up. But finally she was able to speak. "Castle, I know this woman.."


	3. Chapter 3

**A Murder On Repeat – Part Three**  
"You know this woman?!" "Kate, this is just…" Castle took a step closer to her. He knew that she didn't like to be physical in the work place. She knew, he knew. And she loved that about him.

Lanie stood up, she looked worried. "Kate, are you sure you are okay? I'm sure the boys can take over if you need them too!"

The chills on her back had not disappeared yet. But she knew, she had to go through with this. She would never let a case slip. Especially not this one.

The boys had joined them and all of them were staring at her, hoping for a reassurance she was okay. But instead of walking away, Kate knew, she had to process this crime scene even faster and more thoroughly than all the others.

"Guys, I know what it looks like. And yes this is unpleasant, I must admit. But it's not what you think" She had to swallow a couple of times before she could continue. "This is not just like my mom... Well the crime scene does look like hers, but.. I have seen this woman before!"

"You have what?"Castle could not hide it, he sounded confused. She found herself to be confused too. But they just had to find the explanation for it. "But Beckett, I've seen the pictures. I mean.."

"Yeah, I know what you mean, but no. It's something else." She took of her blue gloves, she almost forgot she had put on. "Can you guys wrap it up here, as fast as possible? I need to head back to the precinct, there is something I have to sort out." "Beckett?" "You can come with me Castle. I'll fill you guys in at the precinct and I'll let you know what I find okay?" She walked to her car, but before she got in, she turned around. "Don't worry about me, I'm fine!" She drove off, but could still see the look on Lanie's face. Lanie could always see it, when she was lying. She was not fine, not at all...


	4. Chapter 4

**A Murder On Repeat – Part Four**

They didn't talk much on the drive to the precinct. Castle knew when it wasn't the time for jokes. He had put his hand on her knee. She felt the warmth of his hand and for a moment all she really wanted was to throw herself in his arms and to feel his body close to hers. She pushed the thought aside and continued to pay attention to the road.

She parked the car next to the entrance and walked up the stairs with two steps at a time. "Could you do me a favour and wait at my desk, Castle?" And before he could even answer she was already on her way to the archives. The case files had to be there somewhere! It took her just about ten minutes before she found them. They were still on the same shelve that she had put them on years before. With the box under her arm, she ran upstairs again. Followed by a cloud of dust, coming of the lid of the box.

Castle wasn't at her desk like she'd expected him to be. But when she turned around, he was standing right behind her. With a latte. "I figured you could use one. " He said calmly. Even now, after such a hell of a morning, he still managed to put a smile on her face. The first time she actually forgot about what was going on, even though it was just for a second.

"Now, can you tell me what is going on in your pretty little mind, Kate?" Castle looked at her with his most serious expression. She nodded, took the lit of the box and grabbed the old pictures from the box. Creating the white board into the well-known murder board...


	5. Chapter 5

**A Murder On Repeat – Part Five  
**The moment Kate put the picture on the murder board, Castle squeaked. "Woah! That's her!" He screamed so loud other officers turned their heads. But Kate did not respond, not until she had finished the murder board.

On the murder board the dead woman from the alley was staring at them. Only this time she was in a field, her hands covered in mud. The pictures from eleven years ago still hadn't faded.

Kate also had some pictures of suspects. The killer however was never caught. After working on and off on the case for nearly a year, they had ran out of leads to follow and the case had turned cold. And there it was, Kate had been waiting for this moment to come. Not for another murder, but for a new lead, something that would finally give her the chance to catch the son of a bitch, who had still been walking the streets of New York, while he should have been put behind bars long ago.

Castle had taken a step closer to her. "So she arose from the dead? Don't tell me we've got another Zombie Killer!" "No Castle, that was a once in a life time thing... There's always a logical explanation for everything. Or at least there should be..." She finished the timeline with the facts which she knew right now. She sat down at the edge of her desk and stared at the murder board. What the hell was going on here. In her mind she went back to that day, the day they had found the young woman laying on a bed of roses. At least that image was friendlier than the woman from today on the street.

Her focus was back on the murder board and right when she was ready to tell Castle all about the murder, Esposito and Ryan walked in. Lanie following them closely.


	6. Chapter 6

**A Murder On Repeat – Part 6 **

"Lanie, what are you doing here? You should be with the body at the morgue!" Kate was surprised to see her friend at the precinct. "Kate, it's not like she could get anymore dead, I don't think she'll walk away!" Kate knew Lanie was worried and she knew she wanted to know the full story. "I wouldn't be so sure about that!" said Castle. "About what?" Lanie replied. "About the body not getting up and just walking away." Question marks appeared in Lanie's eyes. "Apparently she already did" Castle pointed at the picture.

Five pair of eyes starred at the photo of the young woman. It took a while before Esposito broke the silence. "Beckett, What the hell is going on? Who is this woman?" "Yeah, that's what I would like to know too" Ryan added. Kate took a big sip from her coffee. It was already cold, but she needed the caffeine. She was the only one still starring at the murder board. Preparing her briefing.

She turned around. Again she had to take a long deep breath before she could continue. "Okay..Where do I start? Eleven years ago, I just started working here at the precinct, the call came in that a woman was found murdered. I was one of the first responders together with Royce. As you guys know, crime scenes mostly are pretty gruesome, but not this one. She was just laying there in her pretty white dress. But just as tonight she had frightening similarities with the appearance of my mom..." Kate had told them all she knew and after she finished the silence came again. "Oh, Kate, I'm so sorry you have to go through this again!" Lanie held her hand while she said it. "I'm okay now, but we just need to catch this killer, sooner rather than later! Can you guys get her personal belongings finger printed first thing in the morning? And Lanie, I could really use a time and cause of death. I'll see you guys tomorrow." Castle had already gotten her bag and coat. "That was a hell of a night!" Kate said while they walked out the door. "Yeah, it definitely was... Now let's go home Kate.. Let's go home..."


	7. Chapter 7

**A Murder On Repeat – Part 7 **

And that was what they did. Just a half a hour later they slipped under the sheets. She felt Castle's warm body against hers. But her mind was still set on the murder. Castle fell asleep quickly. She admired how easy he could set things aside. She had lost that ability long ago. His arm was still around her and she stroke his hand. Sometimes she still had these thoughts about her and him. About how this was even possible. That she had actually found someone that was there for her and she could be there for him and they dove in, in everything, together. She had never been proud of herself for anything, and although she would never really admit it to anyone, she was proud of herself for letting her wall down and inviting Castle in. She dared to bet it was the best decision she had ever made. Laying here beside him was the only thing that came close to feeling safe. And even on her worst days, he was always able to make her smile. For a moment she was able to let her thoughts go and she closed her eyes to enjoy this little moment.

The moment didn't last long. In the darkness of this night, she could only remember the woman. How was it possible that a women so similar to her mom got killed, twice. She made a list in her head of things she had to sort out. Castle had turned around and she had let go of his hands. She layed on her back, starring at the ceiling, hoping for that hunch on what was going on. But she got nothing. She was hoping Castle would wake up with an amazing theory that would solve everything in just a blink of an eye. But even though she secretly loved his theories, they never were the immediate solution. She was repeating every detail in her mind, still she got nothing. Her body felt tired, but her mind was still working hard, she couldn't figure it out. She kept starring at the ceiling, starring at the little black spot, right above her head.


End file.
